Christmas in July Blogathon – Die Hard (1988) – Encore Review 4

This was originally posted as part of the Christmas in July Blogathon over at Drew’s Movie Reviews.  Check it out here.

Thanks again to Drew for hosting this yearly blogathon and for letting me participate!

“If this is their idea of Christmas, I *gotta* be here for New Year’s.” – Argyle

Number of Times Seen – Seriously too many to count (Video, Cable, 13 Oct 1992, DVD, 4 May 2000, Jan 2012, 24 Nov 2013, 30 Nov 2014, 4 Nov 2015, 11 Nov 2015 and 13 Jul 2017)

Link to original reviews – Here, Here, Here and Here

When Drew reminded me of his Christmas in July blogathon, I wasn’t quite sure what film I wanted to watch and review that would work well for me.

There are so many great movies that are set around the holiday time and are meant to get you in the right mood for having a jolly time in the winter days of December.

Without a doubt tho, my personal favorite is a film that most people wouldn’t originally think of as a holiday movie because its just an amazing thriller but it lacks a jolly fat guy in a red suit, a slew of reindeers and of course mistletoe.

On the other hand, it really does a wonderful job of still encompassing the important things in life around the holidays – like the love of family and friends.

The whole reason John McClane ends up in LA at the beginning of the film is to try and find a way to reconcile with his wife and see his two children.

Once everything starts to happen here, his love for them is what keeps him going.

His desire to save his wife and her co-workers from these terrorists is punctuated by so many scenes describing and depicting the holiday spirit.

whether it’s a Santa hat

or Christmas decorations

or a brightly lit Christmas tree

it’s not hard to find the connections to the holiday season.

It’s worth mentioning that even the music and songs played are “Christmas songs” which also help to accentuate the holiday season.

All this film needs to be considered a true Christmas classic is Little Lucy or John McClane declaring “And god bless us everyone.”

Also, doesn’t John’s wife have a holiday spirit name?  Holly.

The biggest question to me tho is what father would bring one humongous teddy bear for his two kids… wouldn’t they fight over it? 😉

There is no doubt in my mind that this is the ultimate Christmas movie.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia –  This movie, set during Christmas time in Los Angeles, has the lead thief named Hans Gruber. The Christmas Carol “Silent Night” was composed in Salzburg, Austria by Franz Gruber, a school teacher and church organist. He wrote the melody for a guitar arrangement at the request of the 6-stanza poem’s author Fr. Joseph Mohr, a Roman Catholic priest and assistant pastor at St. Nicholas Church, who wrote it in 1816. Mohr and Gruber first sang the song “Stille Nacht” at midnight mass on December 24, 1818, while Mohr played his guitar. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy 10/10 (no change from original review)

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